Boat sculling paddle



June 30, 1970 P w LsoN 3,518,024

BOAT SCULLING PADDLE:

Filed June 20, 1969 INVENTOR. PHILLIP M. WILSON United States Patent ()1 ice 3,5 18,024 Patented June 30, 1970 3,518,024 BOAT SCULLING PADDLE Phillip M. Wilson, 2310 Avenue F, Birmingham, Ala. 35218 Filed June 20, 1969, Ser. No. 835,179 Int. Cl. B63h 16/04 US. Cl. 416-63 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A one arm boat sculling paddle having a blade narrowing at its upper end with a short handle extending therefrom that has its upper end widened and flattened. This flattened upper end of the handle carries a hookshaped brace retainer support on one side through which the wrist of the user can be extended but which retains the full forearm as the hand and arm is extended downwardly over the handle and onto the narrowing portion of the blade. The blade has a hole therethrough adequately contoured to lend comfort to a bent finger extended therethrough whereby the paddle becomes virtually a part of the arm of the user. The brace retainer is adjustable over the top of the handle for use of the paddle either by the right arm or by the left arm. The brace retainer is held either by screws or detent means as shown by the different forms of the invention.

This invention relates to a one handed boat sculling paddle.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a one handed boat sculling paddle to be used in maneuvering and controlling the position of a boat by one hand and with the same or less effort than with an ordinary two handed paddle.

It is another object of the invention to provide a one handed sculling paddle with a brace retainer on the end thereof and adapted to be extended over the arm while the hand grips the pad at a lower location thereupon, which can be adapted by adjustment of the brace retainer upon the handle to one side or the other thereof so that the paddle can be easily and readily adapted for use with either the right arm or the left arm and thereby reversible for use on either side of a boat.

It is another object of the invention to provide a one handed boat sculling paddle with a finger hole or formation located in the narrowing area at the top of the paddle blade in which the finger or fingers can be extended to improve the grip upon the paddle by the hand, the hole being so located that it is accessible to the finger or fingers or either hand. 1

It is a further object of the invention to provide a brace retainer for the arm of a one handed boat sculling paddle which can be adjusted to one side or the other of the paddle without removing the brace retainer from the paddle and simply by hanging the same over the top of the paddle.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a brace retainer for a one handed boat sculling paddle which can be hinged over the top of the paddle and retained automatically in any of its three positions by a spring detent device and without the need of removable screws to permit the adjustment of the handle in accordance with one of the forms of the invention.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a one handed boat sculling paddle having the above objects in mind which will lend strength and comfort to the user, easy to grasp, wherein the handle is in the form of a hook, open at one side to permit the extension of the arm thereinto at the location of the wrist but at the same time retaining the arm when the hand has been extended into the paddle, and the paddle is being used, which is light in weight, may be made of any material, preferably of material that will float on water and strong enough to stand abuse normally encountered in the normal use of thepaddle.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a paddle constructed according to one form of the invention.

FIG. .2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 showing the finger hole and its contour in the narrowing end of the paddle.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the paddle looking in the direction of arrows 33 of FIG. 1 and with illustration made as to the manner in which the brace retainer on the end of the handle is adjusted from one side of the handle to the other.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1 and through the connection of the brace retainer with the upper end of the paddle and showing the manner in which the screws fix the brace retainer in the handle.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper end of the handle and of a brace retainer therefor secured by detent means in the handle and according to a second form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an elongated fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5 and through the detent con nection of the brace retainer with the handle.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the paddle, either one form or the other, extended over the right arm of the user and with the right forefinger extended through the hole in the upper end of the blade and illustrating the manner in which the paddle is used by the right arm.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4, and 7, 10 represents generally the paddle according to the first form of the invention. This paddle 10 has a blade 11 with a short one handed handle 12 extending upwardly from the blade 11 and more particularly from the narrowing upper end portion 13 thereof. The upper end of the handle 12 is widened and flattened to provide a portion 14 against which the forearm can rest while the hand can be extended downwardly over the handle and the narrowing portion 13 to extend the forefinger and fingers into a hole 15 in the narrowing portion 13 so as to provide steadiness and lend strength and comfort to the user while keeping the flattened upper portion 13 of the handle against the forearm.

This hole 15 as best shown in FIG. 2 is contoured at 16 to better conform to the bent finger lending still more comfort and leverage when the paddle is used.

To be certain that the flattened portion 14 is retained against the forearm a brace retainer 17 in the form of a hook is adapted to be extended over the top of the forearm. This brace retainer is open at one side as indicated at 18 in such a manner as to accommodate the wrist of the forearm but to pass tl'lerethrough but which is not of such size to allow the upper portion of the forearm to pass readily therethrough. In other words, the brace retainer is of a size which can accommodate the upper portion of the forearm so that the forearm is tightly held against the upper end of the paddle and that when the hand is extended with the finger or fingers in the hole 15 the paddle is virtually and effectively made a part of the users forearm.

This brace retainer 17 has a laterally extending pivotal portion 19 by which the brace retainer can be adjustably connected to or hingeable upon the flattened portion 14 of the handle 12. A hole 20 is provided through the portion 14 so that the brace retainer 17 can be adjusted from one side of the handle to the other and thereby to adapt the paddle for use with the right arm as shown in FIG. 7, or by the left arm.

In order to hold the brace retainer 17 on one side or the other of the handle, wood screws 21 and 22 are extended through holes 23 and 24 whereby the brace retainer will be held in a rigid manner in its adjusted position upon the handle. To adjust the brace retainer the screws 21 and 22 are removed and the brace retainer is angled over the top of the handle as illustrated by arrow 25 and to an adjusted position illustrated at 26.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6, there is shown a second form of the invention in which the screws 21 and 22 for retaining the brace retainer in its adjusted position is dispensed with and allows the brace retainer to be adjusted between right, left and the elongated position relative to the flattened portion 14 of the handle.

The flattened portion of the handle is provided with an opening 27 into which a laterally-extending portion 28 of a slightly different formed brace retainer 29 having a hook shaped end 30 and an opening 31 adapted only to accommodate the wrist as with the opening 18 in the brace retainer of the first form of the invention.

The laterally extending portion 28 intermediate its length is provided with three flat sides 32, 33 and 34 against which a detent 35 backed up by a detent spring 36 can be pressed to hold the brace retainer 29 in either an adjusted position for use by the right arm or by the left arm or in an extended position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 aligned with the paddle to flatten the brace retainer upon the paddle as when the paddle is not in use and is to be hung over a hook on the wall or packed for shipment. The detent button 35 and a spring 36 lie in a hole 37 drilled inwardly into the handle from the upper edge face thereof and plugged by a member 38.

The spring 16 is of such strength and will engage at flat surface on the transverse portion 28 of the spring retainer as to require considerable force to adjust the brace retainer between positions on the flattened portion 14 of the handle.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a one hand boat sculling paddle which when fastened to an arm the brace retainer and with the hand extended over the narrowing portion of the blade with a finger through a hole thereof, the paddle becomes virtually a part of the arm so that adequate opposition to the leverage required to move the paddle through the water is had and strength and comfort is lent to the user.

It should also be apparent that one important use of this paddle will be made by the bait and fly fishermen in maneuvering the boat after the motor has been cut, for in shore control and in one handling the boat for better position.

It can be seen also that if one is casting he can use this paddlewith the other hand rather than trying to do the same with a regular two in hand type of boat paddle.

which is clumsy and tiring.

When a strike is obtained, both hands are required to play the fish, instantly loosening hand grip will allow the paddle to swing down from the elbow of the arm and off the hand into the water and retrieved later after landing the fish.

The present paddle can also be used by one arm people to a great advantage in maneuvering the boat or canoe.

What is claimed is:

1. A one arm boat sculling paddle comprising a paddle blade having a narrowing upper portion, a short handle extending upwardly from the narrowing blade portion, the upper end of said handle being widened and flattened, a hook shaped brace retainer secured to the flattened upper portion of the handle and extending laterally therefrom, said brace retainer being open at one side to allow the wrist to be extended laterally therethrough but adapted to retain the arm therein when the arm is extended through the brace retainer and the hand to the narrowing portion of the paddle, said brace retainer having a transverse portion and said widened handle receiving the transverse portion of the brace retainer for hinge movement from one side of the handle to the other side of the handle to adapt the brace retainer for use by either the right arm or left arm of the user, and means for locking the brace retainer in either of its adjusted positions.

2. A one arm boat sculling paddle as defined in claim 1, and said means for retaining the brace retainer in its adjusted positions extending laterally from the flattened portion of the handle comprising screws extending through the handle and into the transverse portion of the brace retainer, the transverse portion having openings to accommodate said screw in either of the adjusted positions of the brace retainer.

3. A one arm boat sculling paddle as defined in claim 1, and said means for retaining the brace retainer in its adjusted positions being a spring detent in the widened end of the handle and extending axially thereof, said transverse portion of the brace retainer having opposite flattened portions for engagement of the spring detent to biasingly hold the brace retainer in its adjusted position.

4. A one arm boat sculling paddle as defined in claim 3, and said transverse portion of the brace retainer having a further flattened face intermediate the flattened faces for the two laterally extending positions of the brace retainer and extending at right angles thereto, said spring detent engaging said further flattened surface to hold the brace retainer in an axially extending position when hanging the handle free of the grasp of the narrowing portion by the hand or upon a wall hook or when the paddle is to be shipped.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,343 1/ 1940 Flournoy 9-24 2,893,021 7/ 1959 Lundborg 924 3,039,120 6/1962 Powell et al. 9-24 3,040,693 6/ 1962 Bunker.

3,109,184 11/1963 Moore 924 3,117,325 1/ 1964 Shelton 9-24 3,153,797 10/1964 Drennen 9-24 EVERETTE A. POWELL, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 4l672. 

